Reporting period: 23 February - 7 March 2016 (Two-week period)
Weekly Highlights
Latest developments
On 8 and 9 March, six Palestinian attacks against Israelis were reported in Israel and Jerusalem. As a result seven people, including six of the suspected Palestinian perpetrators, were killed and 15 were injured.
On 9 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, after an attempted stabbing attack near Az Zawiya village (Salfit).
Highlights
Nine Palestinian attacks or alleged attacks against Israelis and Israeli settlers were reported during the two-week period, resulting in the injury of seven Israelis; five of the suspected perpetrators were shot and killed at the scene, including a 17-years-old boy and one woman (34 years old), while another Palestinian man was injured and a 14-year-old girl arrested. The incidents included seven stabbings or alleged stabbing attempts near the Ramallah DCO checkpoint, Burin village (Nablus), Al ‘Auja village (Jericho); in Ma’ale Adumim (Jerusalem) and Eli (Nablus) settlements; and at Gush Etzion junction, near Bethlehem; a suspected ramming attack also at Gush Etzion junction (Bethlehem); and a shooting attack at an Israeli police vehicle near Ariel settlement (Salfit). Since the beginning of the year, Palestinian attacks or suspected attacks have resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and 31 Palestinian perpetrators or suspected perpetrators. including ten children
A 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed by live ammunition during clashes in the course of a military operation into Qalandiya Refugee Camp to extract two Israeli soldiers who mistakenly found themselves inside the camp (Jerusalem). Clashes with Israeli forces across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) also resulted in the injury of 225 Palestinians, including 65 children. Nine of the injuries occurred next to the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip and the rest were in the West Bank. The majority of injuries were reported during clashes in the weekly demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya) and Ni’lin (Ramallah); ad-hoc clashes near Al Khadr village and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem; and during eleven separate search and arrest operations. This brings to eight the total number of Palestinians killed in the oPt during clashes since the beginning of 2016, three of them children; and 1,170 injuries, including 381 children.
On 2 March, following an attack next to Bracha settlement, Israeli forces blocked the main entrances to the nearby villages of Burin, Iraq Burin and Madama (population 5,900), west of Nablus city, and deployed ad hoc checkpoints on secondary routes, for five consecutive days. Also during this period, the Israeli army opened the northern entrance to Bani Na’im village (Hebron), which had been closed for the past three months.
The bodies of nine Palestinians, suspected of perpetrating attacks against Israelis, are currently being withheld by the Israeli authorities for periods ranging from 29 to 153 days, all of them residents of East Jerusalem.
On 25 February, one Palestinian child (5-years-old) was killed and another (6 years old) was injured, by unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Jabalia, north Gaza city.
At least 36 incidents involving Israeli forces opening fire at Palestinian civilians and property in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) on land and sea in the Gaza Strip were recorded. No casualties were reported, but one Palestinian elementary school east of Gaza city sustained gunfire damage to a classroom while a class was in session. Thirteen Palestinians were detained during the period, including three near the border fence surrounding Gaza, after crossing into Israel without Israeli authorization; one member of the Palestinian national football team at Erez crossing; and nine fishermen detained at sea, after Israeli forces reportedly forced them to take off their clothes and swim towards the navy boat.
The Israeli authorities destroyed three homes in Hebron city, Deir Samit and Tarusa also in the Hebron governorate, belonging to Palestinians who had been accused of committing attacks against Israelis last November, displacing 22 people, including thirteen children. Another three homes in Qabatiya (Jenin) were served with demolition orders on the same grounds during the week. Punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment and run counter to a range of provisions under international law.
During the reporting period, Israeli forces destroyed or dismantled and confiscated 85 structures in Area C and East Jerusalem communities for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, including 17 structures provided as humanitarian assistance. As a result, 96 people, including 41 children, were displaced and 255 persons were affected. The largest incident affected the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khirbet Tana (Nablus), which is located in a “firing zone” and which was almost entirely destroyed (41 structures). The number of structures demolished since the start of 2016 is already 70 per cent of the demolitions recorded in all of 2015, while the number of people displaced is nearly 68 per cent of the total 2015 figure. The number of donor-funded structures demolished (120) has already exceeded the 2015 total (108). On 17 February, the Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Robert Piper, called for an immediate halt to the destruction of Palestinian-owned property in the occupied West Bank and for respect for international law.
Eight Israeli settlers attacks leading to injury or property damage against Palestinians were recorded during the two-week period, including: the physical assault and injury of five Palestinians, including one woman, in Nablus, Salfit and Hebron; the uprooting of 30 olive saplings in Qusra (Nablus) reportedly by settlers from Esh Kodesh settlement; and damage to a Palestinian vehicle in Asira al Qibliya (Nablus), reportedly by settlers from Yitzhar settlement. Additionally (not included in the count), a Palestinian man was injured when run over by an Israeli-plated vehicle near the entrance of Ariel settlement (Salfit).
Three incidents of stone-throwing by Palestinians against Israeli settler vehicles were reported by Israeli media, resulting in damage to three private vehicles near Hebron and Bethlehem. On 3 March, Israeli authorities handed out flyers in Shufa village (Tulkarm) threatening to take punishment procedures against residents, if stone throwing against Israeli cars continued.
The Egyptian-controlled Rafah Crossing was closed in both directions during the reporting period. The crossing has been closed, including for humanitarian assistance, since 24 October 2014, except for 42 days of partial openings. Authorities in Gaza indicated that over 25,000 people with urgent needs, including around 3,500 medical cases, are registered and waiting to cross. Palestinian casualties in the occupied Palestinian territory (including East Jerusalem)
Palestinian fatalities by Israeli forces in the oPt Palestinian injuries by Israeli forces in the oPt
Total for tw o w eeks 9 216
Total for two Total 2016 (to Total 2015 weeks date) Previous tw o w eeks 13 273
Biw eekly Avg. 2016 16 230
3 25 Gaza West Bank 0 37 127 5 Total in 2016 Total in 2015
81 1375 Gaza West Bank 1149 13550
Israeli casualties by Palestinians in the oPt and Israel
Israeli fatalities by Palestinians in the oPt and Israel Israeli injuries by Palestinians in the oPt and Israel
Total for two in 2016 (to Total 2015 weeks date) Total for tw o w eeks 0 7
Previous tw o w eeks 0 3 0 5 0 4 18 Biw eekly Avg. 2016 0 4
Israel oPt
Israel oPt
Demolitions and related displacements
Palestinian-owned structures demolished Palestinians displaced due to demolitions
Total for tw o w eeks 87 2 Total for tw o w eeks 118 0
Biw eekly Avg. 2016 71 6 Biw eekly Avg. 2016 97 10
Biw eekly Avg. 2015 17 3 Biw eekly Avg. 2015 22 3
Area C East Jerusalem Area C East Jerusalem
Total in 2016 (to date) Total in 2015 Total in 2016 (to date) Total in 2015
32 74 48 72 354 447 486 564
Settler-related violence in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) Total in 2016 (to date) Total in 2015 Total for tw o w eeks 4 4
Biw eekly Avg. 2016 3 2
8 89 14 132 Biw eekly Avg. 2015 5 3
Property damage incidents Casualty incidents
Israeli military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory (including East Jerusalem)
Israeli military incursions into Gaza* Israeli military search and arrest operations into the West Bank * excluding the period of hostilities (7 July- 26 August 2014)
Total for two weeks In 2016 (to date) Total 2015 Total for tw o w eeks 222
Biw eekly Avg. 2016 183 0 6 56
Biw eekly Avg. 2015 176
Movements of goods into and out of Gaza through Kerem Shalom Crossing
Truckloads leaving Gaza Truckloads entering Gaza
Total for tw o w eeks 42 23 Total for tw o w eeks 3,331 2,060
Biw eekly Avg. 2016 59 27 Biw eekly Avg. 2016 2,862 1,771
Biw eekly Avg. 2015 28 24 Biw eekly Avg. 2015 2,158 1,458
West Bank Elsewhere Construction materials Other
240 2807
Jan-May 2007 weekly average (before the blockade) Jan-May 2007 weekly average(before the blockade)
Movement of People via Rafah crossing
0 Total for tw o w eeks 0
224 Biw eekly Avg. 2016 488
560 Biw eekly Avg. 2015 530
Into Gaza Out of Gaza
Please note that the figures in this report are subject to changes upon the receipt of additional information. For more information, please contact us at [email protected]
PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS WEEKLY REPORT REPORTING PERIOD: 23 FEBRUARY - 7 MARCH 2016